Molly, Don't
by star.flash.17
Summary: Remus has comforted Molly Weasley more than once...read the story of a rich-girl prefect and a young, analytical werewolf. One-shot.


**Molly, Don't… **  
A fanfic by HiSpAnIc PaNiC  
Rating: PG (because I worry—Hey, if Shrek 2 can get away with _thongs_…anyway…)  
Setting: Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London, Night Before Start of Term  
Disclaimer: (in William Hung-type voice)  
She bangs, she bangs!/Oh baby she moves, she moves/She looks like a flower but her lawyer would sting like a bee/If I forgot my disclaimer thingy! 

ahem…on with the story then…

'_"Molly," said Lupin bleakly, walking over to her, "Molly, don't…"__  
Next second she was sobbing her heart out on Lupin's shoulder.' _

R E M U S remembered the last time he had seen Molly this way—tears cascading along her face like waterfalls. They had been at Hogwarts, together, in his dormitory.   
  
She would be graduating tomorrow, and a heavy air filled the place as Remus watched her. She perched on the edge of his bed.

He cleared his throat awkwardly and Molly flicked her gaze towards him.

"Why did you want me to come here, Remus?" she asked kindly, and he cleared his throat again.

"I wanted to say goodbye, Molly."

"That's very sweet, dear." Remus beamed. He turned to the bedside table, knees knocking together, and retrieved a small package. Molly continued to watch him in all her seventeen-year-old glory. Remus drank in the rosy-ness of her cheeks, the fullness of her lips, the softness of her chocolate eyes. If his analytical mind didn't know any better, he might say he was in love. But this was absurd; after all, his mind had served him quite well for the past thirteen years—no reason to start doubting it now, right? Besides, her handsome, good-natured beau would cheerfully bash his teeth in if he found anyone wooing his Molly. Oh, that Arthur Weasley had quite the temper at times…

"Remus?" Molly said. He adored the way she spoke his name. "Are you alright?"

"Yes…er…I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me this year, you know, taking me under your wing and such, and caring for me when the moon is full, and giving me advice on what to do to become a prefect, and…well, here," he finished with a blush.

Molly took the package from his sweaty palms and undid the string. There was a purple box, and inside lay a lovely silver necklace—a chain of stars.

"I remember you telling me once that you loved to stargaze—it cleared your mind."

Molly sat and stared at the gift in her hand.

"Do you like it?" Remus asked tentatively. "I'm sorry it's only silver, not at all what you're used to, I know…" his words faded away as a tear trickled down her cheek. She walked to the window and spoke to the trees.

"Thank you, Remus. It's beautiful. No one has ever given me such a meaningful gift. They think all I am is rich and smart. Just a wealthy, bookish girl. Yet after all this time, someone's realized—before Arthur, even—that I'm tired of being loved for my face."

Her shoulders began to heave, and a small sob escaped her. Remus made pace and stood behind her.

"Oh, Molly. Molly, don't…" but she began to cry. He wanted to help her, stop her pain. He held her round the waist (even at seventeen she was a short, skinny thing) and felt her shiver, but continue to weep. Her fiery hair seemed to crackle with sadness, and Remus watched it move about. One small lock grazed her throat—he had the sudden urge to do the same.

"Oh," she whispered, no longer crying, but reaching up to feel the wet traces of his lips upon her neck. She turned round to face him, still caught in his arms, and looked up into the boy's frightened eyes. He had tread on marked ground without reason, but hidden reflex.

"Oh," she said again. No one will know why she did it, but she kissed Remus Lupin then, gently, slowly, to teach him one last time. They fell back upon his bed, kissing for minutes or hours, not really being certain, but knowing that soon enough they would have to say goodbye.

When Remus looked out the window again, shots of gold emblazoned the rouged sky. The sun was setting properly now, glinting treetops, and encouraging him to ask the burning question like flame in his throat.

"Is this love, Molly?" She sat up next to him, cheeks flushed, and smiled.  
"Yes, Remus. This is love. I show it to you now so you will recognize it then.  
"When is then, Molly?   
"When it is the right kind of love. The right kind for you."

Remus clasped the chain around her neck. She lovingly fingered it and kissed his cheek.

"Goodbye, Remus." He held her close, kissed her hair, and whispered into it.  
"Goodbye, love."

The next day, Arthur Weasley, a kind wizard with little pocket money, proposed to Molly. She accepted. Remus smiled down on them and knew Molly would be truly happy—loved for her heart and not her face—for when Arthur pulled out the ring he said, "If the loveliness of a soul is shown on the skin, then you forever are the one for me."

However, something—perhaps the wolf inside him—told Remus not to go looking for love, that it would find him.

And so, that night, nearly twenty-three years later than their farewell in his dormitory, Remus and Molly set out chairs on the balcony to gaze at the stars.

She turned and studied his profile, as aged and faded as her. "Have you found it?"

"Not yet," he replied. "But it will find me."

Molly reached her hand inside her dressing gown, and, with a faint tinkle, produced a silver chain—a chain of stars. Remus looked at her in amazement.

"You still have it?"

"Just my way of wishing you luck, dear." He mulled on this for a moment as she walked to the end of the balcony, her hand extended over the railing.

"Oh, Molly. Molly, don't…" he said, and walking over next to her, seized the necklace from her grasp. Remus ground the chain in his palms to a fine powder, blew it into the night sky, and laughed at Molly's astonishment. A perfect halo of stars circled the crescent moon above them.

"Just my way of keeping us close." And he hugged her once more.

Fin

A/n: this story was inspired from the part in OotP where Lupin is comforting Molly after the boggart incident. The way he did it amused me, and got me toying about with their past. I recognized their age difference to the best of my ability (about six years, I believe), and based off that decided Molly had a summer birthday while Remus had an autumn one. If my calculations aren't on mark, oh well. That's why this is called FANFICTION! Lol.

_Vrai_ and ReViEw!

HiPa


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